Federal party leaders appeared back-to-back in separate French-language interviews on Tout le monde en parle Sunday night, answering questions on their policies and views ahead of this week’s official leaders debates.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Liberal Leader Mark Carney were each given 15 minutes with the hosts of the Radio-Canada program–offering voters their contrasting views on the economy, U.S. relations and leadership. The official French leaders debate will take place on Wednesday night.
Carney spent much of his time fending off criticism for copying Conservative policies and past mistakes, with the hosts suggesting he recently paused his campaign over the trade war, not his China controversies.
Poilievre acknowledged falling in the polls since Carney took over from former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
He said he’s trying to show Canadians his raison d’être—his reason for existing—which is to provide Canadians the same opportunities he was afforded as a young Canadian.
While the hosts suggested that the election would largely be based on who could deal best with U.S. President Donald Trump, Poilievre explained that nobody could control Trump and that any such claims were an outright lie. Poilievre said that strengthening Canada was the best way forward to combat Trump.
However, if he were prime minister today, Poilievre would have urged Trump to stop the tariffs until a new trade agreement could be negotiated. Still, the Conservative leader said that he thinks Congress and the Senate will eventually force Trump to end the tariffs that have been damaging the American economy.
Responding to opponents who have tried to label Poilievre as Trump-like, he said their stories are completely different. While Trump was raised in a millionaire family, Poilievre came from a modest upbringing that allows him to understand the struggles of everyday Canadians.
“We’ll have a Canada with the promise of Canada where everyone who works hard will have a good life in a good home, on a safe street, protected by our proud soldiers under our Canadian flags,” Poilievre said of the country’s future with him at the helm.
He explained the difference between the Canadian and American dream, with the latter having a bigger separation between wealth classes. He said there had been a contract in Canada where if you worked hard, you had a good life, which is no longer an economic reality.
Despite former prime minister Stephen Harper recently attacking Carney for claiming that he led Canada through the 2008 financial recession, Carney doubled down by stating that he solved the financial crisis at the start of his interview.
Carney also defended his former company Brookfield Asset Management’s investment in offshore tax havens. He said that Canada’s tax structure means that people pay taxes in Canada instead of Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, which benefits Canadian workers, but that the tax system clearly needs revisions.
The Liberal leader also touched on why climate change has taken a backseat in this election. He said Canada will become an energy superpower not through oil and gas but by becoming a leader in clean energies like hydro, wind, and nuclear.
Carney was again noncommittal on pipelines, saying he would prioritize big energy projects that may or may not involve a pipeline.
He previously faced scrutiny over conflicting pipeline remarks. Carney previously said he would not repeal Bill C-69, also known as the “no more pipelines act”, despite telling Alberta Premier Danielle Smith the opposite behind closed doors. He made a similar flip-flop with his stance on the oil and gas emissions cap.
The hosts accused Carney of copying Poilievre’s policies, including suspending the carbon tax, removing GST on first homes, and dropping the capital gains hike.
Carney said he wasn’t like Poilievre because despite reducing the consumer portion of the carbon tax to $0, he claims to have tightened the carbon market by making big polluters pay.
Despite repeatedly claiming to have “cancelled” the carbon tax, Carney has not and cannot cancel the carbon tax without a majority vote in Parliament. He simply changed the value to $0 and could raise it similarly at any point.
Also, despite reaffirming that he would make big polluters pay, Carney already previously backtracked on his initial claims that consumers do not pick up some of the cost of the industrial carbon tax.
The Liberal leader also spoke to the differences, or lack thereof, between him and Trudeau.
“We have Mr. Trudeau and me and the Liberal Party. We share the same values—we share solidarity, sustainability, equality and reconciliation—all of that,” said Carney. “The same values, but I want to focus on the economy. I want to focus on managing this crisis and building an economy. And Mr. Trudeau, he’s less, I must say. he’s less interested in that.”
The official French leaders’ debate, hosted by Radio-Canada, will take place on April 16th. The federal election will occur on April 28th.